Eyes Wide Shut (2007, DVD)

Last night in the dark confines of my living room I turned on the last film directed by the great Stanley Kubrick. Mr. Kubrick made so many other fine films such as 2001 Space Odyssey that I wonder why he tried to make the 20001 Sexual Odyssey on his way out.

The film stars the sexy Nicole Kidman. You know the way things will be progressing from the first clip of her stripping off her clothes. One question why is it we see Nicole Kidman in several nude scenes and yet Tom cruise is never seen in full frontal nudity? Doesn t want to shatter his image I suppose, or lack of one. (Little male genital humor there for those who get this far.)

Tom Cruise plays a physician by the name of William Hartford. He is young, sexy, and flirtatious. It is this boyish charm, which sets the stage for his wife s jealousy, teasing, and sexual inner fantasies of her own. Brought on by a marijuana induced truth session we find out the inner wish for Alice, played by Nicole Kidman, is to cheat on her husband with a sexy Naval officer that drives the main character to distraction. Where pray tell does a threatened male turn when faced with his wife s thoughts of infidelity? To seek out hookers, smoky jazz clubs, and a secret hotel masquerade party filled with orgy activities. Wouldn t it be funny if women reacted this way every time a husband s thought of doing the deed with every young thing came their way? A set of fascinating circumstances sets the scene for a sexy nymphets murder. It is at this point in the film that the plot takes a turn. We go in and out trying to figure out a possible murder plot with the thugs, reconnaissance missions, and dark figures silently lurking around every corner. Where does this lead? I dare not reveal the ending and leave that for the viewer to analyze.


My opinion of this film is that first off it comes across as much too long. The video took close to three hours to view. My other comment is the dialogue was awful in this film. The characters seemed to be talking at half speed throughout the film. They tried to infer throughout the film that perhaps this whole film is a dream. My dreams do not progress like a snail in the mud. This was one of the major flaws in the film. The rating on this film created a little controversy. Many overtly sexual scenes were altered to achieve the R rating. To be very frank with you, I do not want early teens seeing this video. There is still sexual perversion plenty, nudity abounds and early teens while exposed to a lot in this day and age should be sheltered from this particular film. The fact that they covered over some of the scenes leaves you with a feeling of playing hide and seeks in the more blatant sexual moments. I enjoyed the musical effects in this film very much. They tried to enhance the scenes with simple piano chords and tones that were extremely effective in many scenes. The cinematography was also a plus in the film and many shots were shot and beautifully set up with an artist s eye.

I cannot give this particular video a high rating. In a way I feel sad about that, because Stanley Kubrick was such a wonderful director.